Quarterly Summary: 1 October to 31 December 2009
This report provides information about audience contacts finalised by ABC Audience and Consumer Affairs and reviews completed by the ABC’s Complaints Review Executive between 1 October and 31 December 2009.
Audience and Consumer Affairs plays two distinct roles in responding to audience complaints. Where a written complaint suggests that the ABC may have breached its Editorial Policies or Code of Practice, Audience and Consumer Affairs will investigate the complaint and determine whether ABC editorial standards have been met. In cases where these standards have not been met, the complaint will be upheld (either fully or in part) and details published on our website. Audience and Consumer Affairs also provides an
audience liaison service for complaints which do not relate to editorial standards, such as matters of personal taste and preference. These complaints can include scheduling issues, preferences for different presenters, and so on. This report includes complaints in both of the categories described above.
This report outlines:
the overall composition of contacts finalised;
the timeliness of responses;
the subject matter of complaints finalised; and
the number of complaints upheld.
Summary details of all complaints upheld by ABC Audience and Consumer Affairs and all reviews finalised by the Complaints Review Executive during this period are available at http://about.abc.net.au/talk-to-the-abc/feedback-and-enquiries/upheld-complaints/. You can also read some of our recent responses to complaints and enquiries here -
http://about.abc.net.au/topics/.
1. Overview of contacts finalised: how many and how did we deal with them?
Overall there were 10, 310 written contacts finalised during this period. Of these, complaints made up 53% of contacts with 5,471 complaints (comprising 5,668 issues).
Table 1: Written contacts finalised.
Audience and Consumer Affairs provided a personal response to 3,503 of these 5,471 complaints. 1,031 complaint contacts were referred to other areas of the Corporation for direct response, nine complaint contacts were handled by the Complaints Review Executive (CRE) and no substantive response was required for 928 complaint contacts.
Type of Contact Email Letter/Fax Other Total % of
Total
Complaint 5170 294 7 5471 53%
Appreciation / Request / Suggestion 4139 158 3 4300 42%
Other 481 58 0 539 5%
Grand Total 9790 510 10 10310 100%
2. Timeliness of responses
Audience and Consumer Affairs seeks to respond to all contacts as quickly as possible, and aims to respond to all contacts within 28 days of receipt, in accordance with the timeliness standard for complaint handling that is specified in the ABC’s Editorial Policies. Due to the large volume of correspondence we receive, and the complex nature of some complaints and enquiries, responses may at times take longer than 28 days.
During the October-December quarter, the majority of our responses were provided within the specified 28 day period.
Table 2: Timeliness of responses provided by Audience and Consumer Affairs.
Type of contact Average response time % of responses provided within 28 days
Complaints 23 days 59%
All contacts 19 days 70%
3. Subject matter of complaints finalised
A single contact to the ABC can raise more than one issue. We aim to categorise each significant issue raised in the complaints we receive. The following table counts the number of issues raised in complaints contacts finalised by Audience and Consumer Affairs during the quarter, and shows how they were dealt with and their outcomes. The table also includes complaints reviewed by the CRE.
Report published 7 April 2010.
Table 3: Topics of complaint issues finalised.
4. Complaint outcomes
1,494 complaint issues were investigated by the Audience and Consumer Affairs
Investigations team. Of these, 376 issues (214 contacts) were upheld either fully or partially.
In each case where a complaint is upheld Audience and Consumer Affairs provides a written response to the complainant acknowledging the error. Details of each upheld complaint are also published in summary form on our website. Where appropriate, additional action is taken to rectify the mistake and/or ensure that the problem does not recur. Actions taken in response to upheld complaints can include the following: written apologies to
complainants; on-air corrections and apologies; counselling or reprimanding of staff;
amending programs for future broadcasts; and reviews of and improvements to procedures.
On occasion, a complaint may be upheld for more than one reason. Where possible, the corrective action taken is reported in the online summary of the upheld complaint.
Category Topic Sub topic
Audience preferences Quality - general N/A 139 56
Scheduling / program changes Change of format 33 26
Change of timeslot 26 21
Discontinuation of program 124 110
Interruption to regular schedule 57 33
Other 111 86
Too many repeats 29 22
Subtotal 519 354
Broadcast standards Inappropriate content Bad example 91 69 54
Bad language / profanity / swearing 39 37 33 1 3.0%
Drugs / smoking / alcohol 4 4 3
Nudity 3 3 3
Offence to religious feeling 85 67 61
Other 83 64 52
Poor taste 106 78 54
Sex and sexuality 35 26 22
Violence 38 31 29 6 20.7%
Intrusiveness / invasion of privacy N/A 6 6 5
News values / news content Not enough coverage 230 84 11
Other 72 18 5
Placement in bulletin 7
Too much coverage 49 9 5
Promotions - ABC programs and products Not as advertised / misleading / inconsistent 23 18 10 1 10.0%
Other 16 10 2
Too few promotions 5 4
Too many promotions 19 12
Too intrusive 10 10
Sensitivity and portrayal N/A 7 5 5
Standards of interviewing Other 18 4 3
Poor context / research / background 32 22 15
Too easy on guest 11 6 6
Too tough / aggressive / rude to guest 97 77 72 58 80.6%
Standards of presentation Language - poor terminology / misuse of word 45 7 Language - pronunciation / grammar / spelling 128 17
Other 263 97
Personal presentation 99 12
Program presentation / set design / camera work 15 3 Sound quality / voiceovers / background music 53 27
Subtotal 1689 827 450 66 14.7%
Corporate / Infrastructure Captions N/A 16 15 1
Customer service / complaints handling N/A 237 203 126 81 64.3%
Internet - technical difficulties N/A 228 33 2
Management issues N/A 1533 1174 9
Transmission N/A 194 22
Subtotal 2208 1447 138 81 58.7%
Balance N/A 113 98 85
Bias Anti-government 13 11 7
Anti-opposition 98 85 79 58 73.4%
Other 328 285 213
Other political 21 18 11
Pro ALP 49 41 28
Pro Coalition 12 11 9
Pro-government 14 12 10
Pro-opposition 3 3 1
Factual inaccuracy N/A 397 352 338 164 48.5%
Failure to disclose N/A 13 11 10 4 40.0%
Incidental advertising - Non ABC products / logos N/A 23 17 17 2 11.8%
Unfair treatment Denigration 42 34 31 1 3.2%
Discrimination 19 17 15
Other 31 24 18
Racism 33 28 23
Sexism 21 19 11
Subtotal 1230 1066 906 229 25.3%
Other Other N/A 22 5
Subtotal 22 5
Grand Total 5668 3699 1494 376 25.2%
Fairness, accuracy &
independence
Total issues upheld
% of investigated
complaints upheld Total
issues closed
Issues responded
to by ACA Issues investigated
by ACA
